Profits or Access?

Why is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a lobbying organization for American businesses, opposed to the ADA Restoration Act currently being debated on Capitol Hill?

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The general argument by opponents of disability rights is that having to make a business or work place accessible puts a damper on profits.

And this is true. It costs money to make a bathroom accessible; it costs something to put in a wheelchair ramp; it costs my own employer, the University of Iowa a few thousand dollars extra to provide me with a couple of talking computers so I can work at home or in my office.

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But the resistance to disability rights is entirely caught in the mediocre logic of simple profitability.

In short: any regulation that inhibits maximum profits must be defeated

This position is perhaps most famously represented by the problem of lifeboats on the Titanic.